Archive | Festival News

It is with heavy hearts that we mourn the passing of Randy Crumpton, treasured board member, fearless chairman of our Black Perspectives Committee, and dear friend. Randy brought his extraordinary passion for film and boundless enthusiasm to the Festival. He was the heart and soul of our Black Perspectives program, celebrating the tremendous talents of African American filmmakers and actors.

Randy was an invaluable contributor to Cinema/Chicago and the Chicago International Film Festival for more than 20 years. He first joined the organization in 1999, when he became a member of the Black Perspectives Committee and of the Junior Board.[…]

We’re thrilled to announce this year’s Audience Award winners!

The Audience Award for Best English-language feature goes to George Tillman, Jr.’s powerful and moving The Hate U Give. Amandla Stenberg stars as Starr Carter, a young woman who is constantly switching between two worlds: the poor, mostly black neighborhood where she lives and the rich, mostly white prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer.[…]

Alice Rohrwacher’s Happy as Lazzaro wins the Gold Hugo for its poetic cinematic language while Jia Zhangke’s latest masterpiece Ash is Purest White takes home the Silver Hugos for Best Director and Best Actress, with 3 of 4 top prizes going to women!

The 54th Chicago International Film Festival tonight hosted its Awards Ceremony at AMC River East 21, 322 E. Illinois St., celebrating the films chosen as the award winners by the Festival juries. Prizes were awarded to films in the following categories: International Feature Film Competition; New Directors Competition; International Documentary Competition; Out-Look Competition; and Short Film Competition.[…]

The Chicago International Film Festival is very excited to welcome the director of Claire Darling, Julie Bertuccelli. Accompanying her is Lynda Rutledge, author of the book which the film is adapted from. Catherine Deneuve and daughter Chiara Mastroianni play mother and daughter in this family drama that’s as tempestuous and idiosyncratic as its lead character. Nearing the end of life, Claire Darling (Deneuve) spontaneously decides to sell her belongings—each object brings into focus memories of her colorful life. Concerned about her mother’s behavior, Claire’s estranged daughter returns home, but the reunion is freighted with the weight of the past.[…]

The Chicago International Film Festival is very excited to welcome the director of Clean Up, Kwon Man-ki. Clean Up follows grief-ridden Jung-Ju as she passively toils at her cleaning job until the arrival of a newly hired ex-con shakes her out of her complacency. Although the young man doesn’t recognize her, Jung-Ju perpetrated a crime against him and his family when he was a boy. The ripple effects of this act slowly play out in their fraught relationship, gradually building into waves of guilt, confusion and anger that threaten to consume them both.[…]